February 3, 2026 | 07:25 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Chinese court has sentenced former Minister of Justice Tang Yijun to life imprisonment for bribery, concluding a high-profile corruption case involving one of the country’s senior legal officials.
The Intermediate People’s Court of Xiamen City in Fujian Province ruled that Tang had accepted bribes worth more than 137 million yuan (around US$23 million) while holding various senior positions between 2006 and 2022, according to a report by Channel NewsAsia (CNA) on Monday.
The court found that the 64-year-old abused his authority while serving as governor of Liaoning Province from 2017 to 2020 and later as China’s minister of justice from 2020 to 2023.
During that period, Tang allegedly used his influence to benefit institutions and individuals in matters including initial public offerings, land repurchases, bank loans, and judicial case handling.
In exchange, he received large sums of money and valuable assets, which the court described as constituting an “particularly high” amount of bribery that caused significant losses to the state and the public.
In addition to the life sentence, the court revoked Tang’s political rights for life and ordered the confiscation of all his personal assets. Authorities said any remaining proceeds from corruption that have not yet been recovered will continue to be pursued.
Despite the severity of the crimes, the court granted Tang a lighter sentence than the maximum possible penalty, citing mitigating factors. Judges noted that Tang had confessed to his offenses, voluntarily disclosed additional bribery cases previously unknown to investigators, and actively returned illicit gains.
Tang was born in Shandong Province and began his career in July 1977. He joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 1985 and rose through the ranks in Zhejiang Province, where he held a series of influential posts in Ningbo City.
These included vice secretary of the city’s party committee, secretary of the disciplinary inspection commission, and secretary of the political and legal affairs committee.
He later served as chairman of the Ningbo City Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a member of the standing committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, and secretary of the Ningbo City Party Committee before being transferred to Liaoning Province in early 2017.
In Liaoning, Tang was appointed vice secretary of the provincial party committee and governor, positions he held until being promoted to minister of justice in 2020. In 2023, he was elected chairman of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC.
Tang’s downfall began in April 2024, when China’s top anti-corruption watchdog launched an investigation into him for “extremely serious damage to the interests of the state and the people.” Six months later, he was expelled from the CCP and removed from public office.
In February 2025, prosecutors formally charged Tang with bribery, and an open trial was held on September 11, 2025.
Tang’s conviction is part of President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, which has targeted thousands of officials across party, government, and military institutions since Xi came to power in 2012.
While Chinese authorities describe the campaign as essential to restoring discipline and public trust, critics argue it has also been used to sideline political rivals.
Another former justice minister, Fu Zhenghua, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for corruption in 2022, a penalty later commuted to life imprisonment.
Most recently, Chinese authorities announced an anti-corruption investigation into Zhang Youxia, one of the country’s most powerful military figures, marking the highest-ranking military probe in decades.
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